Joe and Jill Biden offer ‘joy’ at White House Pride event as LGBTQ attacks mount

The US president hosted the largest Pride celebration in White House history, calling for new measures to protect the rights and safety of LGBTQ people

Thousands of guests picnicked on the South Lawn including transport secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly LGBTQ person to hold a Cabinet position

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US President Joe Biden during a Pride Month celebration event at the White House in Washington on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:01am, 11 Jun 2023

US President Joe Biden on Saturday hosted the largest Pride celebration in White House history, calling for new measures to protect the rights and safety of LGBTQ people amid a spate of what he called “terrifying” attacks and legislation.

Biden, a Democrat, urged Congress to pass the “Equality Act” which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity for protection alongside race, religion, sex and national origin, and ban assault weapons.

Thousands of guests picnicked on the South Lawn including transport secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly LGBTQ person to hold a Cabinet position, and assistant secretary of health and human services Admiral Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate.

People gather on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington during a Pride Month celebration on Saturday. Photo: AP

Biden said the guests also included survivors of deadly shootings at the LGTBQ Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs last November and Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.

The attacks and a flurry of bills in Republican-led states targeting transgender youth, banning teachers of younger children from discussing gender or sexuality and proposed or passed laws restricting drag performances have created a threatening environment for LGTBQ people, Biden said.

“When families across the country face excruciating decisions to relocate to a different state to protect their child from dangerous ant-LGTBQ laws, we have to act. We need to push back against the hundreds of callous and cynical bills introduced in states targeting transgender children, terrifying families and criminalising doctors and nurses,” he said.

“These bills and laws attack the most basic values and freedoms we have as Americans,” he said, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd, where many wore rainbow colours, shorts and sundresses, and some came dressed in drag.

Many chanted “four more years” as he neared the end of his remarks.